Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 26,778 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 269 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 6.0% of Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Advyzon Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 25.8% during the second quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 6,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,142 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,700,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61.0% in the 2nd quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 3,148 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,324,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,409 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,682,000 after buying an additional 2,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.0% during the second quarter. Avalon Capital Management now owns 1,670 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of META opened at $594.25 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $697.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $705.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The company had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $307,040.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 34,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,487,699.60. This represents a 1.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 41,959 shares of company stock valued at $26,906,323 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $825.00 target price (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $825.05.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.